There is a letter to the editor printed on this page from a reader in Missouri who took exception to my column in the past issue about the “over the top” noise from the horns of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe engineers as their trains zip through our community. His opinion is vastly different from mine and he has some background we all should consider.
He gets a bit preachy about the words I used in my column, but that is OK. I almost always use that kind of language — some people like it and some people don’t. That is just how I write. It is not likely to change.
In addition, I should point out that community dialog usually begins with people who have a difference of opinion. Community dialog is healthy! Community dialog is how we actually solve community issues rather than having one person or one group of people bully everyone else into submission. Community dialog shows us that it would be a boring world indeed if I always agreed with you or you always agreed with me.
Mr. Rowland makes some valid points, but also misses some of my points. Plus he does not live in Peabody. He does not hear what we hear.
Actually, last week about 20 people stopped me or one of my family members, or left a phone message to say they agreed with my comments. And one loyal local reader e-mailed a link to a Web site for information on “quiet zones” in residential areas affected by train traffic. The Web site is hosted by the Federal Railroad Administration. That was quite informative and I passed the information on to the city council Monday night and asked that someone research quiet zones so our governing body could perhaps address the issue. Thank you, Doug Windsor, for the link.
Maybe there is a solution, a compromise, out there that will suit both BNSF and the Peabody community. Wouldn’t that be grand? Again, I absolutely do not think there should be no sound as the trains come through, but there should be something the railroad can do to assure safety while curtailing the “obnoxious” offenders. And yes, Mr. Rowland, some of them are obnoxious.
— Susan Marshall